Ladies Room
Ladies Room, sometimes subtitled In Four Acts, is a year 4 comedy-drama directed by Mackenzie Whitney. It was released on January 9. The film's name derives from the fact that a significant amount of it takes place while the characters are in various bathrooms, public restrooms, and other toilet areas, where they both comment on the event of the story and see it unfold. Plot In the first section of the story, several small vignettes are featured, largely as a prelude to introduce the cast. During this time, Meg explains her situation, especially in the light of her increasingly sour view of high school and growing animosity toward her elder sister, Clair. Meanwhile, in a side story, Hannah goes to the restroom in order to speak to a friend, leading to her teacher refusing to allow her to go again when she legitimately needs to pee. Clair is seen with her friends, while Sun's day is followed in detail, showing the sheer business of her schedule. The second act begins a more clear plotline. Short sections about individual characters remain, though they begin to contribute more toward one another. The act begins with several of the main characters at a summer camp. During this time, the characters confront the camp's filthy bathrooms (which led Meg to begin peeing in the woods for the remainder of the time at camp), and also end up in several situations which will be recalled later in the movie. Upon returning to school, the movie firmly enters the realm of its plot. Meg and Hannah begin to become alienated from one another, while both of their relationships to Clair are explored. Wren and Eileen, who had previously been side characters, come to the forefront, becoming new friends to Meg. Also during this time, a girl named Nora is revealed to have withdrawn from the school due to bullying issues. The third act features the summer which Clair and Meg share, which also leads them to become closer friends. However, within the school, as Clair has graduated, Hannah's alienation towards Meg turns to animosity from Meg's perspective, though Hannah hopes personally to rekindle their friendship. During this time, Meg disappears from the school, leading Hannah to fear that she has withdrawn the way Nora did. For this reason, she begins a friendship with Wren and Eileen, who are also mystified as to Meg's whereabouts. However, it is revealed that Meg did not withdraw, but rather left on a family trip during which she cleared her mind. In the fourth and final act, several of the characters return to the woods where they camped the summer a few years back. During this time, they recreate some of their memories, though this time with greater freedom. After they return to school, Meg spends the time remembering the time that has been shared, delving into a new melancholia, despite the strong friendships she now maintains. In the face of this, shortly before their graduation, Meg, Hannah, Wren, and Eileen embark on a new journey, to a destination which is left unknown. In the closing, Sun, who has come to be surprisingly powerful within the school, is seen taking on the role Hannah had held previously and philosophizing on the future of the film's characters. Cast and Characters *Loris Day as Meg: The de facto main character. Meg is somewhat shy and introspective, but also idealistic. In her naïveté, she makes certain mistakes and becomes troubled during high school. *Tab Cantor as Hannah: Meg's friend, who is more geared to living in the moment. She is also considered far more attractive than Meg. Though actually intelligent, she is not bothered by being seen as something of an airhead, and she underachieves in school. *Irene Yost as Sun: An intelligent and involved, if somewhat antisocial girl. She is part of numerous school activities, including band and other teams. A running gag in the movie is the large amount of coffee which she drinks, leading to comically extensive times within the bathroom during which she can be heard peeing. After Hannah leaves with Meg, Eileen, and Wren, Sun takes her position as a popular girl. *Jean Goren-Mevis as Lissa: A minor character who appears alongside other characters in several scenes, though goes unnamed in the film. According to the DVD commentary, her boyfriend is named Edwin. *Sue Dalton as Wren: A student and Eileen's best friend. They become good friends of Meg's and later of Hannah. She is notable for the many scarves she wears during the film. According to Dalton, Wren is asexual. *Molly Germaine as Eileen: Wren's friend and a skilled soccer player. She also dabbles in computer programming. She becomes a close friend of Meg and later Hannah. She has a boyfriend named Nathan, to whom she briefly speaks in the final act. *Kath Hadel as Clair: Meg's elder sister, toward whom she is initially hostile. Clair is two years older than Meg, and also considerably more attractive; she points out her larger bust size to Meg on two occasions. After Clair graduates, the two spend the summer together, and become closer as friends. Reception The film received mixed reviews. One critic called it "an inventive take on a nonetheless very tired genre" though he was impressed by the film's storytelling capacity. Another noted that while the characters themselves were unique, the acting with which the cast carried them was clichéd and sluggish.